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![]() American Aquarium (from the album Lamentations available on New West Records) (by Bryant Liggett) The world could learn a thing or two form B.J. Barham. The frontman for North Carolina’s American Aquarium, the man has penned hundreds of songs of family and financial hardships, many loaded with mind expanding quips. ‘Neither the left nor the right are going to fight for folks stuck in between’. ‘My old man said there’s only two-ways out of this town. That Greyhound bus that’s boot-camp bound, put your nose in a book, keep your ear to the ground.” “The only dream that ain’t worth having is the one you won’t chase down.” Champion of the working-class, all American Aquarium records, including the latest Lamentations, are inspirational. The truth-hurts ballad, “Me and Mine (Lamentations)”, is a blue-collar tale where Barham is a voice for people, confronting those same folks with uncomfortable truths… ‘what are you supposed to do when the god you’re praying to goes up and missing?’ “Brightleaf + Burley” examines a dwindling tobacco industry and North Carolina’s unwillingness to legalize a cannabis crop as American Aquarium suggest telling Roosevelt ‘what the bible belt did to his New Deal’. The criticism of the stubbornness of the South is more frustration than anger, American Aquarium showing hope for in “A Better South”. “Six Years Come September,” “The Day I Learned To Lie To You” and “How Wicked I Was” are cuts that explore guilt, woeful tunes that express heavy regret, while “The Luckier You Get” champions a blue-collar, bust-your-ass approach to music. B.J Barham is the anchor of American Aquarium; always backed by a ripping band that transform the music from rock to cowpunk. American Aquarium further accentuate the fact that Lamentations is a songwriters record, and B.J. Barham remains an essential voice for those smart enough to listen. (by Bryant Liggett) Listen and buy the music of American Aquarium from AMAZON Please go to the American Aquarium website for more information
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